AdWords - Google

AdWords is Google's branded P4P service. This offering classifies Google as part pay-per-click (PPC) search engine.

What are AdWords?

The service places relevant text-based ads both within Google, termed "sponsored links", and on external sites willing to host Google ads, termed "Ads By Gooooooooooogle." These external sites are those that use AdSense, the other side of the Google advertising model. Companies wishing to promote their products or services can enroll in this program. The biggest competitors are Espotting, and Overture owned by Yahoo!.

Legal Context

The service has generated lawsuits in the area of trademark law. Several lawsuits are apparently pending over trademark infringement.

Interacting With Adwords

The ads are displayed on the right hand side of the natural search results. The Ads are pure text, and thus difficult to block. However, on external sites, they are hosted within an IFRAME tag, making them easy to remove with advertisement blockers like the Mozilla extension Adblock.